Wednesday, September 10, 2008

President of National School of Martial Arts Supports Nia Abdallah


"I watched the video several times and i must say yes you won without a doubt. Also after watching the Olympics I have to wonder exactly what the rules really are... and yes, i do believe you would have been the better choice to bring gold back to the USA."

Joe Giampietro, President NSMA
www.nsmataekwondo.com

Mr. Giampietro is a 40 year veteran of the martial arts and has been a very successful competitor and demonstrator as well as one of the most respected Master Instructors in this country. His ability to relay complicated techniques to his students is a key factor in their ability to excel in Local, National and International Competitions. He has trained and taught in the USA and Asia. He is one of only a few US instructors to operate Martial Arts Schools in Okinawa Japan. He is also the Texas State Director for the United States National Taekwondo Federation. Master Joe was awarded "USNTF Instructor of the Year 2001" by Grand Master Duk Gun Kwon, President of the United States National Taekwondo Federation. " I am a true believer in the Magic of Motivation" Grand Master Joe Giampietro

How to Handle Disappointment by Nia Abdallah


You shouldn’t ever let yourself ever get disappointed in life. The direct meaning of disappointed is thwarted in hope or desire. There is only one person in the world that can take away your HOPE or DESIRE and that is yourself. Life is all about how you look at it. Like the old saying says, “ Do you look at the glass as half full or half empty?”. Just because your hope or desire does not come true at the moment you want it to, does not mean I will never happen, unless make it not happen in your mind. Disappointments in life, if you want to call it that, are just struggles that you must go through in order for you to become a better person.

In Chinese the symbol for struggle is the same as the symbol for opportunity. I find that interesting and enlightening. If you really think about it, in every struggle that you have ever been in you have came out of it with a new outlook in life. You came out of a better person. Struggle or disappointments are there to MAKE you find an opportunity that you would not look for if everything was okay. Everything happens for a reason in life. I look at everything as a learning experience. In fact everyday can be a learning experience.

All you have to do is open your mind to it. When things do not go your way just make yourself say “What can I do better next time so it will not happen again?”. Even if things do go your way say “What more can I do to make it even better then now?”. Life is all about what you feed your mind. Positive attitudes can only bring you positive outcomes. The oldest book in the world (The Bible) says in Matthew 17: 20 that if you tell the mountain to go into the sea and you believe with all your heart, it will come true. The key to that is that you must believe with all of your heart. That’s how I try to live in the best and worst moments of my life.

Nia Nicole Abdallah
“love your life, so you can live your life”

Friday, August 29, 2008

THANK YOU FROM THE PARENTS OF NIA ABDALLAH

Greetings All,

The Olympics are over and The USA Taekwondo Team are back on American soil which means the fight is not over. This letter is not about the Lopez’s but a Thank You letter to all of you who have supported Nia and our family in time of need. The old saying that says evil will triumph when good people stand and do nothing is so true and thank God all of you are righteous people because you showed us how much you cared, by doing something to correct a wrong. Rhonda and I can not thank each and every one of you enough. We ask that you continue to pray for us as we will do the same for you all. So just remember a lie is always hidden in dark places and will not stand forever but the truth is the light and it is eternal.



Thank you,
Thomas and Rhonda Duhart
Nia Abdallah Parents
wesupportnia.blogspot.com

A Letter of Support for Nia Abdallah

Hello Nia,

I recently came across your blog, I watched the video of your sparring match with Diana Lopez. I have been in Taekwondo for 18 years, Im 3rd Dan and I have been a certified judge and referee. From my point of view and the cameras point of view, more than anything all of your kicks on her head gear DID NOT count. Which was unbelieveable.

I proud of how you are supporting Taekwondo the "right way". What happened to the tradition of Taekwondo? The honor and respect. I know what is RIGHT is not if you WIN or LOSE but to what is fair. I also want to change the way the world sees Taekwondo.

Keep on aiming high.

Sincerely,

In Christ,
~Janice Courtney

Friday, August 22, 2008

Lopez takes fight to taekwondo federation? What?! PLEASE COMMENT!!


(Editors Note: Now it has been a rarity that we would give ample space for an article featuring the Lopez family but we felt this recent article presented a special occasion. Our team of bloggers will be addressing this article real soon but for now we highlighted some interesting quotes. PLEASE READ IT AND LEAVE US YOUR THOUGHTS NOW! Remember the old saying, what goes around.....)

Lopez takes fight to taekwondo federation
By Charles Robinson, Yahoo! Sports
Posted August 22, 2008

BEIJING – With taekwondo already rumored to be on the brink of Olympic elimination, the sport was doing everything it could to avoid even the slightest shock of controversy.

On Friday, it was struck by lightning.

In a chaotic episode that might ultimately prove to be the tipping point to Olympic doom, American two-time defending gold medalist Steven Lopez was eliminated from gold-medal contention on a controversial referee’s decision. Lopez would go on to win bronze in the 80-kilogram weight class, but not until after his team leader, Herb Perez, had filed a protest and then ripped the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) for intimidation and gross mismanagement of the sport’s rules and oversight.

“When (poor judging) happens to you, you’re told to shut up and not say anything because of what will happen to you, or what will happen to the sport,” Perez said. “If this is truly what taekwondo is about, maybe taekwondo shouldn’t be in the Olympics. Maybe they should fix it.”

Perez was furious after a string of events that began when Lopez – who hadn’t lost a match since 2002 – was docked one point in his quarterfinal match against Mauro Sarmiento. A referee determined Lopez had used a “cut kick,” which is essentially kicking away an opponent’s blow below the waist. Perez maintained that Lopez had merely raised his left leg in defense on the foul, and Sarmiento had kicked into Lopez’s leg in an attempt to draw a point deduction.

Lopez’s lost point cut his 2-1 lead into a 1-1 tie in the third and final period of the match. He eventually lost in sudden-death overtime.

What came next had the WTF scrambling on the defensive as Perez came out with some serious allegations. First, he said the protest wasn’t properly handled – that the Olympic Competition Supervisory Board didn’t respond for 45 minutes, well outside of the allotted 15 minutes typically allowed. Second, Perez said they were given little explanation as to why their protest had been deemed “unacceptable.”

“Unacceptable could mean anything from we didn’t file the papers properly to we didn’t use the right color pencil,” Perez said. “… Under the WTF competition rules, we should have been notified about the decision, the criteria, the methodology used, what evidence was presented,and what referees were reviewing it. We were not.”

But that wasn’t even the bombshell. Perez said that, in a June taekwondo conference, the heads of the 25 teams which attended were asked to sign an agreement not to file any protests at these Olympic Games in hopes of avoiding a controversy that could further put the sport’s Olympic future in jeopardy.

“We were manhandled,” Perez said. “We were threatened not to protest at this event. I think that needs to be said. We were made to sign a document not to protest for the betterment of taekwondo. It was a very big thing. There was a table, you went up to the table, (and) you signed the document. You signed it in front of the secretary general (of the WTF) and you gave him the document.”

Perez said he was approached again by WTF officials on Friday after his protest was denied. This time, Perez said, they were asking him not to speak to the press.

“I was asked to compromise (again) five minutes ago,” he said. “They said, ‘Don’t tell anyone.’ The head of the WTF came to me and said, ‘Don’t speak to the press.’ The secretary general said, ‘Don’t do this.’ (Secretary General Jin Suk) Yang and (WTF president Chungwon) Choue said, ‘Herbert, don’t do this. Think about the future.’ ”

The WTF’s director of public relations, Seok-Jae Kang, vehemently denied coaches had signed a “no protest” pact, calling the claim “nonsense.”
“It is not an agreement. I would call it a resolution,” Kang said. “A resolution on fair play. … It was ‘Do your best to ensure fair play and judging.’ Appealing is up to them. It’s their right and their rule. They can appeal.

“Ask him the right wordings (on what he signed).”

Kang said officials from the WTF were not prepared to respond on Friday night, but pointed to a June release on the body’s Web site, which touted “Participants in WTF Olympic Coach Seminar Adopt Resolution on Fair Play.” The release lists some lines from a document signed by coaches at the event, including an agreement that signees would “respect and accept the judgment and decisions of the refereeing and technical officials in all taekwondo competitions.”

Clearly, Perez believed that to mean that coaches were being leaned upon not to protest at the Olympics. But Kang said that interpretation was “a matter of opinion.” Another coach, Iran’s Kiarash Bahri, didn’t attend the June meeting, but he said he was never told explicitly not to protest.

“The WTF wanted everybody to have more self-control, and if they want to make a protest, take the correct procedure actually, not to jump up and down and make a ruckus, raise a lot of noise,” Bahri said. “Take the correct procedure to go about it, file the complaint and then they’ll decide. But it wasn’t like, ‘Don’t make a protest.’ ”

The ugliness marred an otherwise positive story for taekwondo, which had seen a generous amount of coverage as Lopez and his two siblings, Mark and Diana, had captured medals in their respective weight classes.Diana Lopez took bronze in the 57-kilogram weight class.

“(WTF officials) don’t think about the repercussions until after they make a mistake,” Steven Lopez said. “They know the power we have as a family and bringing limelight to our sport. By no means do I want to bring this sport down. I love this sport. But sometimes in any sport there are judges, there are politics involved. Unfortunately, there’s not supposed to be that in any of the sports, but you see it all the time. Whether it be gymnastics, boxing, it happens.

“There are bad calls all the time. This is one of the times that it happened to me. It normally doesn’t, but it happened. It sucks.”

Article reposted from http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/taekwondo/news?slug=cr-lopez082208&prov=yhoo&type=lgns" target"=_blank">http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/taekwondo/news?slug=cr-lopez082208&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Over 90% of voters in online poll say Nia Abdallah beat Diana Lopez!

Thank you to everyone who took part in the online poll that was developed on this blog. The results showed that after watching the full Olympic Trial match fight between Nia Abdallah and Diana Lopez, over 90 percent voted Nia the winner!

All we want to know is, what fight were those mere 34 "No's" looking at!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The Parents Corner

Today, August 20 at 10PM CST, Diana Lopez will be unjustly representing the United States in Beijing in Taekwondo Olympic Competition. If you were the parents of Nia Abdallah, how would you feel at this very moment knowing that your daughter is the best and most qualified fighter and should be there right now but was robbed? Well, they lean on their spiritual foundation and have encouraged their highly spiritual daughter to keep her trust in God.

They encourage all Blog readers to go and read the following and fitting passages in the Bible.

Proverbs 16:18 and Psalms 37

Want to send the family an encouraging word? Email them at: wesupportnia@gmail.com.